Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Shadows by Alex North

11 reviews

opplecopter's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Dementia, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Animal death

cyndi1966's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child death, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Death, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Dementia, Mental illness, Animal death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Bullying

rcd229's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I've read so many books at this point in my life and I have such an overactive imagination that not a lot surprises me. Or if it does, it doesn't surprise me all that much. Usually if I'm reading a good mystery and I guess a good ending, I mostly just enjoy seeing how said ending was arrived at rather than being wowed by any plot twists because I generally see them coming. Not gonna lie, I did not quite see this one coming. The writing and the setup is done in such a way that I didn't even consider the big twist until I was already past it. So I'm fairly impressed. I read The Whisper Man a while back and thought that that, too, was a really good, albeit ***extremely*** messed up story, and I am no less appreciative of this (although this, while very dark, is definitely dark in a deeply sad way rather than the way The Whisper Man turns out).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Dementia, and Grief

Minor: Torture

haleybre's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Death, Dementia, Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Grief, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

blackcatkai's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

CW: casual ableism, blood, violence, murder, child death, suicide, infidelity, addiction mentioned, alcohol/drug use, violence, gaslighting, toxic friendships, gore, trauma, abuse/bullying

I started reading this one with such hope, and i was enjoying it initially, but as it continued i found myself bored and could not stay engaged. there was both too much going on and yet nowhere near enough. a big issue, for me, were too many characters that all felt flat and too similar, and too many time skips back and forth. i also feel the detective parts could have been completely cut out and the story would've been much better. her povs just felt like a way to make the book longer and i am not a fan.

a couple of the twists in the end were pretty decent overall, but we get fade to black in a big action end scene that felt so disappointing. i was overall underwhelmed and i wish i wasnt. still going to check out other books by North, but this one was an absolute miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Gore, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Addiction

yomireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was genuinely spooked reading this book and the plot twists were spectacularly well foreshadowed, and yet unexpected. The resolution felt a little anticlimactic, but it still felt satisfying and tied the loose ends nicely. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Torture, Terminal illness, and Suicide

Minor: Domestic abuse, Animal death, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

literaryliaisons's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia

kris386's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcohol and Infidelity

book_banter's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I didn’t see the twist coming so that was great! I did find the characters a bit flat, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death

sunshinestark's review against another edition

5.0

The Shadows is delightfully creepy, with twists you won't see coming from a mile away, and a must read. 25 years ago Charlie Crabtree committed a gruesome murder before disappearing. Since he was never found, there's always been speculation he's still alive out there. Now, copycat killers have emerged, inspired by what Charlie did, thrusting the case back into the limelight. Then, strange things begin to happen to those who knew Charlie as a teenager. Has Charlie truly been in hiding all this time? If so, why choose now to make himself known again? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicide, and Violence